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Tuesday, August 18, 2015

Weekend garden projects...

This weekend was meant to be about inside projects. When the weather is this good it never works out that way. One trip to agway and i find plants on sale and everything goes out the window. Hence three more fruit trees. large ones at that so it was great to get them planted. Now with three rows of fruit trees the "little orchard" is coming along quite nicely. Also on one of my hikes up into the woods i found these great old moss covered posts that were destined to me an archway. So that happened, and then i wanted to create some sort of barrier at the end of the garden.

All my readings on old english gardens, such as Sissinghurst and Virginia Wolfs garden all talk about rooms. I love this feeling in gardens, an enclosed safe space. When you take a walk across the road onto the 30 acre tree farm to the east of my house, you have all these paths cut through these little gatherings of trees. So intimate and secret. So here i wanted to create a door way into the little scrub land beyond, shield the little road and also create a sense of enclosure. Next spring imagine that little piece of scrub full of wild flowers with a little path going off into the woods beyond...

Its a work in progress but as i keep collecting all these birch branches and weaving them together, it starts to take shape. More will be added as i hunt and gather. Then i have planted raspberries and blackberries along it on this side. On the west side of the archway is a natural grape vine plant that i think if it is trained will produce fruit. I also planted a honey suckle and then good old virginia creeper which will engulf this structure given time. Also my humming bird vine may be transplanted over here. Now that i have seen my little hummingbirds at the feeder its more important that they can get at the trumpet vine. It was in the white border and i kept hiding the red flowers but that seems silly now that i have this area for it to romp around in. Maybe this weekend ..

Close up of the raspberries going in. I love this whole section being about fruit, next summer, fingers crossed there will be peaches and apples and pears and raspberries to gather. On the trippods in front in the below picture i have tomatoes interweaving with blueberries. The blueberries will grow up and over the canes and there is about 4 green tomatoes on there right now. Small steps into a veg garden.

Action shot in the woods gathering branches, any volunteers. Its a little blair witchy...

Great inspiration shot of a store in denmark i think? Maybe the branches need to engulf the little doorway more, and i love the idea of an old gate hanging on it as well.

Andy Goldsworthy you genius ! One of my favorite British artists. Working with nature in the landscape, he uses found objects and creates amazing sculpture. He has a piece at storm king and they are dotted all over England. Im not saying my fence is anything like this (i wish) but its definitely an inspiration. I would love it to connect with the giant old oak tree on the far right of the image, somehow making the branches swirl from the tree into the fence. I had better get collecting some more branches. These are the things i get up to when left along over the weekend !

The garden is a true passion of mine. The interior has ground to a halt and all of my time (and money) is going on planting. I have been engrossed in an old book documenting Vita Sackville-West, the poet and writer, began transforming Sissinghurst Castle in the 1930s with her diplomat and author husband, Harold Nicolson, and all she talks about is regretting not planting enough large shrubs and structural plants soon enough. That is my reasoning, that i need to use this first year to try and get as much of the long term structure in place. Such as the box woods in the front and trees. I am really waiting for end September and praying that the boxes go on sale, i want so many more!

The garden is my complete indulgence and i could spend ever moment there...i blame my fathers father and then also my mother. Both avid and obsessive gardeners it really is a given that i would be the same...